(This isn't MY 3D ultrasound but they send the picture in my weekly email and thought it would be cool to share!)

How your baby's growing:

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. (I can tell that s/he's growing! I can feel exactly how high my uterus right now.) Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. (And soon enough I'm sure I will be begging her or him to stop kicking me in the ribs!) These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming. (I remember Caleb hiccuped ALL the time!)

How your life's changing:

If you're like most women, you're feeling a bit more energetic (FINALLY!!!) now and your nausea may be starting to wane. (Still the same, not bad at all) Unfortunately, you may also be suffering from constipation (caused by hormonal changes, which can slow digestion) and heartburn (hormones again, relaxing the valve between your stomach and esophagus). Just remember, all this discomfort is for a good cause. (Ya, ok. Just playin!)

Don't worry if nausea has made it impossible for you to eat a wide variety of healthy foods or if you haven't put on much weight yet (most women gain just 2 to 5 pounds during the first trimester). (Haven't been weighing myself, I'll let you know --maybe-- at my next appointment)Your appetite will likely return soon, and you'll start to gain about a pound a week.

I’ve noticed lots of stretchy pains going on. And Oh My Gosh I have to pee like every 20 minutes, it’s ridiculously annoying!

My tummy is starting to harden up a bit, I can feel it and tell where the top of my uterus is. And it seems to be pushing everything else up and out.

My back pain and I have reunited. I PRAY it does not get bad like it did with Caleb.

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry. Growing fast!

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, Green?as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, And I'm sure will be incredibly intelligent! and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body. Amazing how this can happen to something so tiny.

How your life's changing:

Your uterus has doubled in size in the past five weeks, Still not showing! and eating may feel like a chore — or worse — thanks to morning sickness, which by now may be in full swing. Today I felt ok but the past week I wasn't feeling so hot and one day threw up four times! (If you're feeling fine, don't worry — you're lucky! Whatever! I don't have too many nice words for expectant mothers' who don't get sick!)

You may need to pee more than usual, Uh a lot more! too, thanks to your increasing blood volume and the extra fluid being processed through your kidneys. (By now, you already have about 10 percent more blood than you did before you were pregnant. Didn't know that! And by the end of your pregnancy, you'll have 40 to 45 percent more blood running through your veins to meet the demands of your full-term baby.) As your uterus grows, pressure on your bladder will send you to the bathroom as well. Oh yes I remember that well.

About half of the women who feel nauseated during the first trimester will find complete relief by about 14 weeks. Great, only 7 more weeks of it to go. For most of the rest, it'll take another month or so for the queasiness to ease up. It's unlikely, though, that the need to pee more than usual will ease up. In fact, research shows that both the frequency and volume of urine tends to increase over the course of pregnancy.

And the tiredness. Oh my goodness! I have been SO tired! Like I could sleep ALL DAY LONG!

So I think I finally feel pregnant. The nausea sucks big time!!! I pray I don’t have it as much as last time!!!

I’ve had lots of little stretchy sharp pains in my lower abdomen. Especially when I sneeze or cough. He or she is a growing kid.

I’m still not showing but that’s ok, I still need to keep it quiet from work for another couple months if possible.

And I swear I can smell everything under the sun strongly. I don’t remember ever getting that with Caleb.

My baby turned eight on Wednesday and we celebrated with some good ol’ Chuck E Cheese fun! He had lots of his friends there, received some great gifts and played games like crazy. He was one happy kid.

I loved it when Chuck E. came out and sang to him! He got so embarrassed but you could totally tell he was loving it!

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. (He still looks a little silly) If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. (Amazing how early their hearts develop and beat) His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.(That's my boy, or girl, growing nice and big!)

How your life's changing:

(This still cracks me up!) You may find yourself developing a bit of a split personality — feeling moody (I haven’t been too bad yet. Or at least I don’t think so anyway. Ask Jarred) one day and joyful the next. Unsettling as this is (especially if you pride yourself on being in control), what you're going through is normal. Ricocheting emotions are caused partly by fluctuating hormones. But hormones aside, your life is about to change in a big way — and who wouldn't feel emotional about that?

Spotting or bleeding is relatively common in early pregnancy, affecting up to a quarter of pregnant women. It may occur in a normal pregnancy, but sometimes it can be the first sign of miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.(Don’t you like how they throw that out there, since of course, most pregnant women are scared out of their minds anyway!)

So far I haven’t had too much of a change. I feel nauseous a lot but not enough to throw up. My mom bought me the motion sickness bracelets and those things are amazing. Slap them on and in like two minutes I’m better. I pray I don’t get sick like I did with Caleb. I think I did enough sickness to last me through four pregnancies!

And I know you are supposed to gain weight while pregnant but I seem to be loosing weight. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as I gain when I’m supposed to. Might as well get skinny before I get big.

Eight years ago I held you for the first time in my arms and when you finished screaming your head off you just stared at me and I back. I studied your face, your eyes, your ears, all of you. Wondering what you would be like when you got older. And here you are, half way to a full blown teenager.

Some things I predicted. Such as your strong head and your cute blonde hair. Some things have taken me by surprise though. Like your height.

I’ve noticed a lot over this past year how much you really have grown up. You’re in to big boy things, although you still like some toys such as Legos and the occasional hot wheel or Ninja Turtle figure.

I think it’s funny how you think girls have coodies. I promise not all of them do.

You’re not totally into girls yet but you do think a few of them are cute. You’re funny because you are scared to tell her. You are totally a ladies man too! You’ve got what, three girls “in love” with you. I have a feeling this will not cease anytime soon.

You have gained quite the since of humor in the past year too. Just recently you actually started to take the jokes too and not just give them left and right.

Son I am truly blessed that I have got to spend these past eight years with you. You are an amazing soul with a strong, gentle heart.